More about Big Bang? China to set up World’s Highest Altitude Gravitational Wave Telescope in Tibet

Lhasa, Jan 7, 2017: China is working to set up the world’s highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes in Tibet Autonomous Region to detect the faintest echoes resonating from the universe, which may reveal more about the Big Bang.

Construction has started for the first telescope, code-named Ngari No.1, 30 km south of Shiquanhe town in Ngari Prefecture, said Yao Yongqiang, chief researcher with the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinhua news agency reported.

The telescope, located 5,250 meters above sea level, will detect and gather precise data on primordial gravitational waves in the Northern Hemisphere.

Yao said the second phase involves a series of telescopes, code-named Ngari No. 2, to be located about 6,000 meters above sea level. He did not give a time frame for construction of Ngari No. 2.

The budget for the two-phase Ngari gravitational wave observatory is an estimated 130 million yuan ($18.8 million). The project was initiated by the Institute of High Energy Physics, National Astronomical Observatories, and Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, among others.

Ngari, with its high altitude, clear sky, and minimal human activity, is said to be one of the world’s best spots to detect tiny twists in cosmic light.

Yao said the Ngari observatory will be among the world’s top primordial gravitational wave observation bases, alongside the South Pole Telescope and the facility in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

Gravitational waves were first proposed by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity 100 years ago, but it wasn’t until 2016 that scientists with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory announced proof of the waves’ existence, spurring fresh research interest among the world’s scientists.

China has announced its own gravitational wave research plans, which include the launch of satellites and setting up FAST, a 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope in southwest China’s Guizhou Province. (IANS)

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are known for their potential of achieving higher efficiency and low production costs compared to traditional silicon solar cells.
Pixabay

Chinese researchers have found that solar cells can retain most of their power conversion efficiency in near space, providing perspectives on the cells’ future application in space.

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are known for their potential of achieving higher efficiency and low production costs compared to traditional silicon solar cells.

These cells also have great potential for developing the new-generation energy technology for space application, but little research has been done to test the stability of PSCs in the extreme space environment, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the study, researchers from China’s Peking University sent the devices fixed with PSCs into near space on a high-altitude balloon.

These cells also have great potential for developing the new-generation energy technology for space application, but little research has been done to test the stability of PSCs in the extreme space environment, Xinhua news agency reported. Piixabay

The balloon rose to near space at an altitude of 35 km, a region above Earth’s atmosphere where there is only a trace amount of moisture and ozone.

The region, considered to have “air mass zero” contains no atmospheric attenuation of solar radiation and therefore several high-energy particles and radiation, such as neutrons, electrons and gamma rays, originate from the galactic cosmic rays and solar flares.

Chinese researchers have found that solar cells can retain most of their power conversion efficiency in near space, providing perspectives on the cells’ future application in space.Pixabay

According to the findings, one type of PSCs used in the study retained more than 95 per cent of its initial power conversion efficiency during the test, the researchers reported in the journal Science China Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy.

They said the study is expected to play a crucial role in the future stability research of PSCs. (IANS)